Chap. V. • sJ M E%,IC A. 66 j 



There are few that have Sail'd to Greenland, but make grut mention of Qnrry «*»*-#»«* 

 Ijland, Co call'd, as having been firft difcover'd at the Charges of Sir Francis Cherry , 

 an eminent Merchant • by others Bear-Iflan d, from the multitude of Bears found 

 there; it lies in the Latitude of feventy four Degrees, and is noted for ftore of 

 Fowl, Foxes like Dogs, and upon the Coafts great ftore of Whales, Sea-Horfcs^nd 

 Morfes : It is alio faid to be furnifh'd with Lead^Mines, and Pits of Sea-Coal. 



Ifeland, Co call'd from the continual Ice which is upon it, is a craggy mountain- g£ nrfoiw,rf 

 ous Countrey ; and not onely the Hills, but a great part of the Low-land cover'd r r°f>w. 

 with perpetual Snow : It is of a Form fomewhat oblong, lying between the fifty 

 fourth and fifty ninth Degree of Northern Latitude, having Norway on theEalfyhe 

 Orcades and Scotland on the South firenland on the Wcft,and the Hyperborean ,or frozen 

 Sea on the North. It is by Olaus Magnus fuppos'd to be twice as big as Sicily, that is 

 to fay, about a hundred Leagues in length. It is the moll known, and moft througly 

 difcover'd of all the Countreys of the Artick Region, and is faid to have been firft 

 found out and peopled in the Year of our Lord ooo. by certain of the Nobility of 

 Eaft'Frifia in the Countrey of ©reme, in the time of Alebrand, Bifliop of that Coun- 

 trey ; but whether or no utterly unpeopled till that time, is a Queftion not cafieto 

 be determined, though in all probability fo obvious a Place to befound out, could 

 not lie fo long totally uninhabited. Not long after feveral Colonies of ]S{orV>egians 

 Setled themfelves, fome in ffitlandj fome in Ferow, others (following the Example 

 of thefe Hremers) in Ifeland. The Countrey is full of Rocks and Stones, and (as is 

 credibly reported) not a cultivated Field or Garden in the whole Ifland, and by 

 confecjuence no fort of Corn, yet the People living without either Bread or Salt, 

 arc very ftrong, and of a good Complexion: Neither is there a Tree to be fee n, 

 except the Birch, which likewife grows but in one place, and exceeds not the 

 heighth of a Man, by realbnof the violence of the Winds • yet there is faid to be 

 great plenty of Butter, the Grafs being fo fat, that the Oxen are not fuffer'd to ftay 

 long at a time in the Paftures for fear of burfting. Till of late there was neither 

 Town, nor any thing that could be call'd a Village, in the whole Ifland, but 

 ftragling Cottages here and there, not above three or four together in a place, mod 

 by the Sea fide for the convenience of Fifhing 5 they were built pretty deep in the 

 Ground, but artificially fram'd of Whales Bones, with Seats, Benches, and other 

 Utenfils of the fame ; now fometimes they ufe Fir to the fame purpofe, which is 

 caft upon the Coaft by the force of the Sea from Tartary or elfe where. For want of 

 Vcflels, they lay their Butter in Heaps in the Corners of their Houfes like Mor» 

 tar. In the Winter,wanting Fodder, they feed their Cattel with Fifti. Befides thefe 

 Cattcl, which arc Kine without Horns, Horfes onely fit for carrying of Burthens, 

 and very large Sheep, there are ftore of white Foxes, and huge Bears of the fame 

 colour, and a fort of rough Dogs, very well known, and frequent amongft us by 

 the Name of Shocks, which the Iflandcrs efteem not a little, and will part with their 

 Children at a far eafier rate : They keep neither Hogs nor Poultrey, for want of 

 Grain to feed them. 



The Rivers belonging to this Ifland are many, and thofe not unpleafant, afford- jjf^£^ 

 ing to the Inhabitants plenty of Fifli, especially Sturgeon, Trouts, and Salmons . 

 and one is efpecially remarkable for a Bridge made over it, which being the onely 

 Bridge of the Countrey, is made of the great Bones of a Whale. The whole Ifland 

 is one continu'd Defart, without any trodden Path or Road from one end to the 

 other • fo that all that have occafion to travel to any part thereof by Land, make 

 ufe of 'the Compafs, as if they were Voyaging by Sea. - _ 



The Coaft of Ifeland hath many ftrange and monftrous Fifli worth obfervation, o^fcUft 



